Metro State publicly launched the new Accelerated Nursing Program last week in a celebration that included its health care partners, members of the Board of Trustees and the first cohort of 31 students, who started the yearlong program Feb. 9.

The program is for students who already have a bachelor's degree and want to pursue a second career in nursing.

"A program like this simply doesn't happen without a committed group of partners from the community," Interim President Ray Kieft told celebration attendees.

A fund established through the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation consisting of donations from Colorado Permanente Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente and Exempla Healthcare provided a $394,000 grant to launch the program. The fund is one of the first physician-initiated partnerships in the nation aimed at funding and providing educational support to address issues surrounding the nursing shortage.

Also, additional financial support will be provided to students in the program.

Les Hirsch, president and CEO of Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital, announced a $15,000 loan guarantee program for students in the program who agree to work for the hospital upon successfully completing the program.

In addition, each student will receive a $5,000 scholarship from the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and Metro State Foundation. Metro’s Foundation Board unanimously accepted a challenge from St. Joseph Hospital’s Foundation to match their $2,500 contribution per student.

“The Foundation Board feels that by in investing in students with strong leadership skills and providing them with an integrated learning environment of clinical and classroom experiences, we’ll have a program that will positively impact the current nursing culture while adding nurses to the work force,” said Vice President of Institutional Advancement Carolyn Wollard.

Modeled after Johns Hopkins' successful accelerated nursing program, Metro's program concentrates the components of a traditional bachelor of science nursing program into 12 months time. Each year, two cohorts of 32 students will enter the intensive program.

Students will perform eight to 12 weeks of clinical rotations in evenings and on weekends under the supervision and guidance of experienced registered nurses. The clinical hospital patient training will be primarily at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital, allowing the students to become more familiar with the nurses and doctors and to become an integral member of the clinical team. Additional outpatient clinical experience will be offered at Kaiser Permanente and physician clinics of the Exempla Physician Network.

The $394,000 grant funded the construction of and equipment for an instructional laboratory at Metro that is modeled after patient-care areas at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital. The lab includes the program's human-patient simulator, Sim Man. This talking, breathing, automated mannequin has a heartbeat, pulse and chest movements. It can moan in pain and receive injections.

"This is one of the most exciting firsts I've seen," Barbara Wertz, vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital, said of Metro's program. "It is this kind of innovation that will bring people back to nursing."

The median age of students in the first cohort is 29, and more than a third majored in biology. They come from a variety of occupations, including forest fire fighter, phlebotomist, flight attendant and obstetrician.

Others, like Aaron Norton, have just completed their bachelor's degree. Norton, who graduated last May from Denison University, intends to be an orthopedic surgeon but decided he needed to learn about the nursing profession before he could become the type of doctor he wants to be.

"I need to know every aspect of the profession," Norton explained. "This will make me a better doctor."

So far, the program has been very demanding, Norton said. "We put in full days and we have about 200 pages of reading every night. We also spend Saturdays in the program. But it's a great program. I'm learning something new every day."

Jennifer Roch, who has a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Kansas and worked as a tissue donor coordinator, says the program is very demanding. "It's intense, but it's something I really care about. I really enjoy the reading and the classes."

Joel Edelman, founding director of the Accelerated Nursing Program, cited the dedication and diversity of the students. "These students' life experiences will feed their success."